Sleep cycle 4 hours

4 Sleep Cycles You Need To Know: Everyman to Uberman

Most of us agree that a monophasic sleep pattern – rising in the morning and sleeping at night – is best. However, there are other sleep patterns such as the everyman, dymaxion and uberman that change everything we thought we knew about sleep schedules. Science proves that these alternative sleeping patterns are feasible, and possibly more preferable.  Here, we delve into a number of different polyphasic sleep patterns, including cycles centred around bursts of 2 and 4 hours sleep.

Exploring monophasic through to Uberman sleep cycles

According to the National Sleep Foundation, 85% of mammals sleep in polyphasic patterns, meaning that they sleep in portions throughout the day. The vast majority of humans, however, are monophasic. But is a one block sleeping pattern always best for us? Read on to find out whether a biphasic or uberman sleeping pattern would be more suitable.

Monophasic Sleep Cycle

Most of us are familiar with the simplest of sleep cycles – monophasic sleep. This is the most common sleeping cycle and consists of one core sleep at night of between 7-9 hours. This is best suited to people who work the regular 9-5, or schedules that won’t allow short naps in the middle of the day.

The advantages of a monophasic sleep cycle include is that it’s generally the most convenient because it’s just one long period of sleep at night. This offers high flexibility in sleeping and waking hours and means you’ll generally be awake and asleep at the same time as your loved ones. There’s also minimal risk of sleep deprivation if you set aside a solid amount of sleep each night.

But despite being routine, is it the most efficient of sleep cycles? Disadvantages of this standard sleep pattern include inconvenience for those with late shift patterns. Also, this sleep pattern requires a relatively large amount of total sleep, which may be inconvenient for particularly busy people.

Alternative sleep cycles and patterns:

Monophasic sleep is just one cycle among many. Studies have shown that there are other, more pragmatic ways to get some shut eye. In 2001, historian Roger Ekirch published a seminal paper that suggested humans originally slept in two phases. His book, At Day’s Close: Night in Times Past, shows over 500 references to polyphasic sleep throughout history, from Homer’s Odyssey to modern tribes in Nigeria.

Each of these alternate sleep cycles are polyphasic – which means they involve multiple sleep phases each day.

1. Biphasic sleep 

The biphasic sleep pattern consists of a split sleeping pattern, so around 5-6 hours at night and around 2 hours of sleep at midday. This may be best suited to people living in areas where biphasic sleep is common, for example the Mediterranean or Latin America.

Is biphasic sleep better?

Whether biphasic sleep is better for you depends on personal preference. By napping in the middle of the day, the advantages include an energy boost on days where you’re particularly tired. Napping also improves memory and cognitive functions and if taken regularly, short naps after lunch can improve cardiovascular health and reduce stress.

However, for insomniacs, napping perpetuates bad habits and can worsen sleep issues caused by jet lag, stress and illness. So, biphasic sleep schedules are only recommended for those with healthy sleep habits; those who have no trouble sleeping at night as a result of 2 hours sleep in the afternoon.

2. Everyman sleep cycle

The Everyman sleep cycle consists of 3.5 to 4 hours of sleep and three 20-minute naps spread out across the day. This may be suited to those who want to use polyphasic sleep to increase their waking hours but aren’t quite ready for the extremities of the Dymaxion or Uberman cycle.

The advantages of the everyman cycle include that it has longer waking hours than most sleeping cycles, meaning you can achieve a lot more with your day because the naps are brief at only 20 minutes long. Once adapted properly, this routine offers more flexibility than a lot of polyphasic sleep patterns. That being said, this cycle may lead to sleep deprivation, as it consists of a full sleep time of just 4 and a half hours.

3. Dymaxion sleep cycle

The Dymaxion cycle consists of 4 x 30-minute naps throughout the day (roughly every 6 hours), which results in 2 hours of sleep time in total. This is best suited to those who don’t require much sleep, or those with the DEC2 gene, also known as short sleepers. This might also be beneficial for those who can fall asleep quickly once they get to bed.

Related: Who Are Short Sleepers & Why Don’t They Need Sleep?

The advantages of the Dymaxion include that it has the most waking hours of any cycle. So this is definitely one for those who prioritise efficiency over sleep. Once adopted, this cycle allows 6 hour waking periods allowing you to get a lot done. The disadvantages however are that this cycle is one of the most difficult to adapt to. Chances are, you will be feeling tired throughout the day. Not to mention, sleeping for 30 minutes 4 times a day is likely to be difficult for scheduling.

4. Uberman sleep cycle

The Uberman is a polyphasic cycle that consists of 6 to 8 equidistant naps across the day, each lasting 20 minutes. Because this seems the most restrictive, it’s best for those who can follow a rigid polyphasic sleep schedule. Generally, this means the uberman sleep cycle is only ideal for those who don’t require to be awake for longer than 3.5 hours. That’s because that’s all the waking time you get between naps.

Advantages of the Uberman cycle include quick naps, each only 20 minutes long. Because you only get 2 hours of sleep each day, you can also get a lot done and once fully adapted, this cycle means you’d be able to quickly fall asleep anywhere. However, there are obvious disadvantages to this extreme polyphasic sleep cycle. It’s extremely inflexible in sleeping and waking times, which isn’t ideal if you want a social life. Not to mention, only 2 hours of sleep each day would be difficult to adapt to.

What are the most efficient sleep cycles?

In terms of efficiency, the best sleep cycle is whatever works for you. While many may suffer sleep deprivation from a polyphasic sleep cycle, others may thrive. Beyond any unusual sleep patterns, it’s massively important that you still get enough sleep, in whatever form that takes. We recommend you get roughly 8 hours of sleep a night, however, this doesn’t have to be exclusive to a monophasic cycle. And not all of us need eight hours. It’s best to listen to your body when deciding whether biphasic or polyphasic, such as uberman and dymaxion, is best for you.

One of our other infographics, 7 Sleep Mistakes You Don’t Know You’re Making and How to Fix Them, looks at what you can do about the sleep you’re getting now, regardless of pattern. 

Want to know more about your dreams? Dream Encyclopaedia

Humans Used to Sleep in Two Shifts, And Maybe We Should Do It Again : ScienceAlert

Around a third of the population have trouble sleeping, including difficulties maintaining sleep throughout the night.

While nighttime awakenings are distressing for most sufferers, there is some evidence from our recent past that suggests this period of wakefulness occurring between two separate sleep periods was the norm.

Throughout history, there have been numerous accounts of segmented sleep, from medical texts, to court records and diaries, and even in African and South American tribes, with a common reference to "first" and "second" sleep.

In Charles Dickens' Barnaby Rudge (1840), he writes:

"He knew this, even in the horror with which he started from his first sleep, and threw up the window to dispel it by the presence of some object, beyond the room, which had not been, as it were, the witness of his dream."

Anthropologists have found evidence that during preindustrial Europe, bi-modal sleeping was considered the norm. Sleep onset was determined not by a set bedtime, but by whether there were things to do.

Historian A. Roger Ekirch's book At Day's Close: Night in Times Past describes how households at this time retired a couple of hours after dusk, woke a few hours later for one to two hours, and then had a second sleep until dawn.

During this waking period, people would relax, ponder their dreams, or have sex. Some would engage in activities like sewing, chopping wood, or reading, relying on the light of the moon or oil lamps.

Ekirch found references to the first and second sleep started to disappear during the late 17th century. This is thought to have started in the upper classes in Northern Europe and filtered down to the rest of Western society over the next 200 years.

Interestingly, the appearance of sleep maintenance insomnia in the literature in the late 19th century coincides with the period where accounts of split sleep start to disappear. Thus, modern society may place unnecessary pressure on individuals that they must obtain a night of continuous consolidated sleep every night, adding to the anxiety about sleep and perpetuating the problem.

Biological basis

Less dramatic forms of bi-phasic sleep are evident in today's society, for example in cultures that take an afternoon siesta. Our body clock lends itself to such a schedule, having a reduction in alertness in the early afternoon (the so-called 'post-lunch dip').

In the early 1990s, psychiatrist Thomas Wehr conducted a laboratory experiment in which he exposed a group of people to a short photoperiod – that is, they were left in darkness for 14 hours every day instead of the typical 8 hours – for a month.

(simpleinsomnia/Flickr)

It took some time for their sleep to regulate, but by the fourth week, a distinct two-phase sleep pattern emerged. They slept first for 4 hours, then woke for 1 to 3 hours before falling into a second 4-hour sleep. This finding suggests bi-phasic sleep is a natural process with a biological basis.

Pros and cons

Today's society often doesn't allow for this type of flexibility, thus, we have to conform to today's sleep/wake schedules. It is generally thought a continuous 7 to 9-hour unbroken sleep is probably best for feeling refreshed. Such a schedule may not suit our circadian rhythms, however, as we desynchronise with the external 24-hour light/dark cycle.

To successfully maintain a split sleep schedule, you have to get the timing right – that is, commencing sleep when there is a strong drive for sleep, and during a low circadian point, in order to fall asleep quickly and maintain sleep.

Some of the key advantages of a split sleep schedule include the flexibility it allows with work and family time (where this flexibility is afforded). Some individuals in modern society have adopted this type of schedule as it provides two periods of increased activity, creativity, and alertness across the day, rather than having a long wake period where sleepiness builds up across the day and productivity wanes.

In support of this, there is growing evidence suggesting naps can have important benefits for memory and learning, increasing our alertness and improving mood states. Some believe sleep disorders, like sleep maintenance insomnia, are rooted in the body's natural preference for split sleep. Therefore, split sleep schedules may be a more natural rhythm for some people.

Implications for shift work

Split sleep schedules have recently begun to emerge as a potential alternative to continuous night shift work. Working at night has the combined problems of prolonged wakefulness (often working 8 to 12-hour shifts) and circadian misalignment (working at a time of night when you would normally be asleep).

Shift workers frequently complain of fatigue and reduced productivity at work, and they are at increased risk for chronic disease such as obesity, type 2 diabetes, and heart disease.

Some industries have employed schedules with shorter but more frequent sleep opportunities, on the premise that the drive for sleep will be less with reduced time. For example, 6 hours on/6 hours off, 4 hours on/8 hours off, and 8 hours on/8 hours off, limiting time on shift and reducing extended periods of wakefulness.

Split sleep/work schedules divide the day into multiple work/rest cycles so employees work multiple short shifts, broken up with short off-duty periods every 24 hours.

Split-shift schedules that maintain adequate sleep time per 24 hours may be beneficial for sleep, performance, and safety. A number of recent studies have found split sleep provides comparable benefits for performance to one big sleep, if the total sleep time per 24 hours was maintained (at around 7 to 8 hours total sleep time per 24 hours).

However, as might be expected, performance and safety can still be impaired if wake up and start work times are in the early hours of the morning. And we don't know if these schedules afford any benefits for health and reduce the risk for chronic disease.

While the challenges of night shift work cannot be eliminated, the advantage of some split shift schedules is that all workers get at least some opportunity to sleep at night and do not have to sustain alertness for longer than 6 to 8 hours.

Although we aspire to have consolidated sleep, this may not suit everyone's body clock or work schedule. It might, in fact, be a throwback to a bi-model sleep pattern from our pre-industrial ancestors, and could perhaps work well in a modern industrial setting.

A version of this story was first published in June 2016.

Melinda Jackson, Senior Research Fellow in the School of Health and Biomedical Sciences, RMIT University and Siobhan Banks, Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Sleep Research, University of South Australia.

This article was originally published by The Conversation. Read the original article.

4 sleep modes that will allow you to sleep in just a few hours a day

November 4, 2020 You won't have to sleep long.

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It is believed that for a good rest we need 6-8 hours of sleep per day. After that, full of energy, we can start a new day, which will last an average of 16-18 hours. This sleep mode is called single-phase.

In fact, in addition to the most common single-phase sleep, there are four more polyphasic sleep patterns, when sleep is broken into several short periods throughout the day.

As you know, the most important part of rest is the phase of REM sleep. When we switch from single-phase to polyphasic, the lack of sleep prompts us to dive into that phase immediately, rather than 45 to 75 minutes later. Thus, the body seems to receive a portion of a full-fledged eight-hour sleep, but at the same time we do not waste precious time on the transition to the REM sleep phase.

Polyphasic sleep patterns

1. Uberman

20-30 minutes of sleep every 4 hours = 6 rest breaks per day.

Uberman mode is very effective and beneficial for health. Thanks to him, in the morning a person feels a charge of vivacity, and at night he sees vivid interesting dreams. Many who adhere to this regimen even note that they can see lucid dreams more often.

Don't worry: sticking to the schedule will prevent you from missing another nap. The body will give the necessary signal.

2. Everyman

3 hours sleep at night and 3 times 20 minutes during the day / 1.5 hours sleep at night and 4-5 times 20 minutes during the day.

If you have chosen Everyman, you must set the same time interval between rest breaks. It is much easier to adapt to such a regime than to Uberman. In addition, it is many times more effective than single-phase sleep.

3. Dymaxion

30 minutes of sleep every 6 hours.

Dymaxion was invented by American inventor and architect Richard Buckminster Fuller. He was delighted with this regime and said that he had never felt more energetic. After several years of Dymaxion, doctors examined Fuller's condition and concluded that he was in excellent health. However, he had to stop this practice, as his business partners adhered to a single-phase sleep regimen.

Dymaxion is the most extreme and most productive of the polyphasic modes. But at the same time, sleep lasts only two hours a day!

4. Biphasic (biphasic)

4-4.5 hours of sleep at night and 1.5 hours of sleep during the day.

Every second student follows this regimen. This is not very effective, but it is still better than single-phase sleep.

Which mode to choose

The answer to this question depends entirely on your lifestyle, schedule and habits. Remember that when switching to Dymaxion or Uberman, you will be walking around like a zombie for about a week while your body adapts to the new sleep pattern.

How to get into the new sleep pattern

A few helpful tips to make the transition easier:

1. Arrange your bedroom in such a way that you can relax in it as comfortably as possible.
2. Eat healthy and avoid junk food.
3. Keep yourself occupied during your waking hours, then the time will fly by.
4. Leave two or three weeks for the transition, otherwise there is a risk of falling asleep right at work or school.
5. Don't give up! After a couple of weeks it will be much easier. You just need to wait. Do not skip sleep breaks and do not change the time intervals between them so as not to start the adjustment period all over again.
6. Play loud music to wake you up, and make sure that no extraneous sounds prevent you from falling asleep.

If you are seriously thinking about the practice of polyphasic sleep, we advise you to study the experience of other people and carefully monitor your body's reaction to the transition.

Read also 🧐

• Why sleeping 6 hours a day is as bad as not sleeping at all
• How to sleep and get enough sleep
• Is it possible to sleep 3 hours a day? Checking polyphasic sleep on ourselves

all about how, how much and why to sleep

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Sleep takes up one third of our lives. If you live 90 years, you will sleep through 30 of them. A lot, right? This condition is the subject of research by many scientists around the world (neurologists, psychologists, anthropologists, sociologists). Everyone wonders how much sleep you need? How does sleep affect productivity? What to do if you can't sleep?

Sleep is a special state of consciousness, as well as a natural physiological process, characterized by a reduced reaction to the outside world and specific brain activity.

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The structure of human sleep includes two phases: slow-wave sleep (Non-REM) and fast sleep (REM, or REM - “rapid eye movement”).

Slow sleep
Comes on immediately after falling asleep. Consists of four stages. The total duration of the Non-REM phase is about 90 minutes. The breathing is calm, even, the pressure decreases, the eyes first make slow movements, and then they are motionless, the brain is inactive, the body is relaxed. You rest, restore physical strength.

REM sleep
Follows REM sleep and lasts 10 to 20 minutes. The temperature and pressure rise, the heart beats faster. The body is immobilized, with the exception of the muscles responsible for the heartbeat and breathing. Under closed eyelids, eyeballs make quick movements (hence the name - REM). The brain is active. You see dreams.

Non-REM and REM phases alternate with each other. First, you fall into slow sleep and go through all its stages. It takes about 90 minutes. Then comes the phase of REM sleep. The first time it is short, no more than 5 minutes. This cycle is called the sleep cycle. The cycles are repeated. At the same time, the proportion of non-REM sleep decreases and the duration of REM sleep increases (up to 1 hour). A healthy person usually goes through five cycles of sleep at a time.

Good sleep contributes to success in professional and personal life. Agree, you are unlikely to hear “Yes!” If during the interview you yawn or fall asleep at the screening of your favorite movie of a girl you like.

But most importantly, sleep is a guarantee of health. During sleep, a number of important hormones are produced, tissues are regenerated, and physical strength is replenished. The brain is also not idle: some of its areas become even more active than during wakefulness.

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Have you noticed that when you want to sleep, some tasks seem too difficult, but once you get enough sleep, the solution comes by itself? The fact is that during sleep, selective, that is, selective, erasure of memory occurs. The brain analyzes the information received during the day: the unnecessary is sent to the “basket”, and the important from the short-term memory is “archived” into the long-term. This is how our memories are formed. Improves perception, concentration and learning ability.

Lack of sleep impairs the functioning of certain parts of the brain. For example, inhibition of neural processes in the parietal lobe is observed, which may cause problems with the reaction rate. And when the work of the prefrontal cortex slows down, it is difficult for a person to formulate thoughts, there may be problems with vision. Fatigue of the brain turns into a whole bunch of negative consequences.

1. Impairment of cognitive functions (memory, attention, thinking), coordination, speech, orientation, control and others. Often this leads to accidents at work and on the road. According to statistics, every fifth accident occurs due to the fact that the driver fell asleep at the wheel.
2. Immunity vulnerability. Studies show that lack of sleep increases the risk of getting sick by three times. During sleep, the immune system synthesizes cytokines. The more infections around, the more they are required. But if a person sleeps little, then there is simply no time to produce cytokines. No wonder they say that sleep heals.
3. Overeating and excess weight. Lack of sleep stimulates the production of ghrelin, the hunger hormone. As a result, the person overeats. A tired brain requires more and tastier food.
4. Reduced productivity. When a person wants to sleep, he does everything slowly and poorly. What usually takes an hour can take two, three or more. And not the fact that it will not have to be redone. The efficiency of time stolen from sleep tends to zero.
5. Decreased motivation. Chronic lack of sleep destroys motivation like groundwater erodes a foundation. Every day less and less I want to move forward towards my goals.
6. Bad habits and bad mood. Lack of sleep is a serious obstacle to the formation of good habits. But an excellent catalyst for harmful ones: with a lack of sleep, a person is looking for external stimulants (nicotine, caffeine, and so on). A sleepy person is quick-tempered, irritable and offended by the whole world.
7. Poor appearance. Lack of sleep is literally imprinted on the face in the form of bruises and bags under the eyes. Prolonged lack of sleep provokes premature aging of the skin.

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The situation is aggravated by the fact that often a person does not realize or does not recognize the decrease in their mental and physical abilities: “Sleep is for the weak! I'm fine!".

Long-term sleep deprivation can cause serious health problems: the risk of developing heart and vascular diseases, diabetes mellitus. However, there are people who consider sleep a waste of time and deliberately keep it to a minimum.

Time is the most valuable and, alas, irreplaceable resource.
Wasting it on sleep is a crime.
This is the philosophy of polyphasic sleep supporters.

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Polyphasic sleep is a sleep pattern in which sleep time is broken up into several short periods instead of a long rest once a day. At the same time, the total duration of sleep is significantly reduced, and wakefulness increases to 20–22 hours.

• Dymaxion - four times for 30 minutes every 6 hours. Total - 2 hours.
• Uberman - six times for 20 minutes every 4 hours. Total - 2 hours.
• Everyman - 1.5-3 hours at night and three times 20 minutes during the day. Total - 2.5-4 hours.
• Tesla - 2 hours at night and 20 minutes during the day. Total - 2 hours 20 minutes.

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Sleep is shortened by skipping Non-REM phases. According to supporters of the polyphasic pattern, the main energy recharging occurs during REM sleep, which means that you need to immediately “dive” into it, without wasting time on slow sleep.

Of course, training is needed. If you do not know how to fall asleep quickly and do not like to sleep during the day, it will be difficult. But gradually the body will get used to it, and the brain will tune in to the desired wave.

Polyphasic sleep was practiced by many prominent personalities: Leonardo da Vinci, Salvador Dali, Nikola Tesla, Bucky Fuller. Among our contemporaries are the president of Yahoo, Marissa Mayer, businessman and billionaire Donald Trump, basketball player Kobe Bryant and others.

Adepts of polyphasic sleep claim that they feel great: they not only get enough sleep, but are also full of physical and creative energy.

However, there are many critics of polyphasic sleep, who argue that sooner or later this jagged schedule will come back to haunt the problems with the cardiovascular system. Opponents of polyphasic sleep believe that you cannot force the body, you need to listen to your biological clock.

In ancient times, people lived according to the laws of nature - everything depended on the change of time of day. After all, there were only two "lamps": during the day - the sun, at night - the moon. This has shaped human circadian rhythms.

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Circadian Rhythms
This is the body's internal clock that determines the intensity of various biological processes (thermoregulation, digestion, hormone production, and so on).

The circadian frequency of sleep and wakefulness depends on light. Visual receptors react to the level of illumination and send a signal to the suprachiasmatic nucleus of the brain. This kicks off the production of two important hormones responsible for sleep and awakening: melatonin and cortisol.

Melatonin is a sleep hormone. Produced in the pineal gland when it gets dark. It reduces pressure and temperature, calms the body and gives it the command “Time to sleep!”. In the morning, the synthesis of melatonin stops. The more light, the more cortisol is released into the blood. This hormone wakes us up, gives vigor and energy for the accomplishments of a new day.

This determines the 24-hour circadian rhythm of sleep and wakefulness: it gets dark - melatonin gives us the opportunity to rest, the sun rises - cortisol wakes us up. But how much sleep do you need to be healthy and positive? After all, for example, in summer the nights are shorter than in winter, and artificial lighting allows you to adjust the natural schedule.

The vast majority of studies have proven that a healthy adult needs 8 hours of sleep.

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This comes from the very nature of sleep. Remember, under normal conditions, we go through five sleep cycles of about 100 minutes each: 100 times 5 divided by 60 is about 8 hours.

The duration of sleep depends on age. The younger the person, the more sleep they need. The National Sleep Foundation, an American non-profit organization with 25 years of experience in the field, makes the following recommendations:

• 0 to 3 months - 14-17 hours;
• from 4 to 11 months - 12-15 hours;
• from 1 year to 2 years - 11-14 hours;
• from 3 to 5 years - 10-13 hours;
• from 6 to 15 years old - 9-11 hours;
• from 14 to 17 years old - 8-10 hours;
• from 18 to 64 years old - 7-9 hours;
• 65 years and over - 7-8 hours.

Sleep duration directly affects physical and mental activity. Maybe, to become the best in your field, it is enough to sleep as much as outstanding scientists, writers and politicians slept? There is no definite answer to this question.

Einstein and Schopenhauer slept 10-12 hours a day. Honore de Balzac, Leo Tolstoy and Charles Darwin - 8 hours each. Sigmund Freud and Vladimir Nabokov adhered to six hours of sleep. Mozart and Margaret Thatcher (5 hours each), Napoleon Bonaparte and Voltaire (4 hours each) rested a little less. Waking record holders are Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla, who practiced polyphasic sleep.

There is no universal recipe. Sleep duration is like shoe size. For most, 8 hours is suitable, but for some this is not enough, and for some it is a lot. To understand how much you need to sleep for you, you can experimentally.

Answer three questions:

1. Do you need an alarm to wake you up?
2. Do you drink coffee or energy drinks to keep you awake during the day?
3. Do you fall asleep within the first five minutes?

Yes to the first two questions and no to the last one, you need to increase your sleep.

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Circadian rhythms also affect a person's psychological state. Depending on the peaks of mental activity, people are divided into two chronotypes: morning (larks) and evening (owls).

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Early rise and early bed. Waking up at 5-8 am. Lights out usually no later than 10 pm. Most productive and efficient until noon. In the afternoon can not solve problems effectively. By evening, completely exhausted.

Get up late and stay up late. Wake up at 9 am or later. Lights out, usually after midnight. Productivity peaks in the afternoon and evening. Waking up early is unsettling.

This classification was invented in the West in the 1970s. Since then, disputes have not ceased, who is better: larks or owls?

Larks are associated with hard work and success. Who gets up early... The world seems to be made for early birds. Government agencies, clinics, shops, organizations - if you want to be in time everywhere, get up earlier. But, according to scientific research and real life examples, owls are no less efficient and successful. For example, for a trader on the stock exchange or an IT freelancer, the generally accepted work schedule is not so important: they have their own.

Sometimes discussions reach the point of ridiculousness: supposedly owls are more sociable and romantic, while larks are more responsible and friendlier. In fact, such subjective qualities do not depend on the chronotype, but on the character of the individual. In addition, there is a sleep regime, the adherents of which are difficult to unambiguously classify as larks or owls.

The theory of biphasic, or segmented, sleep was developed by the historian, teacher at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute Roger Ekirch (Roger Ekirch). The result of his 16-year scientific work, he outlined in the book "When the day ends: a dream in the ages past. "

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Ekirch studied hundreds of historical documents and came to the following conclusion.

Until the 19th century, when artificial lighting spread to homes, people spent up to 14 hours a day in the dark. Winter evenings were especially long and tedious. The so-called two-phase sleep has become a protective mechanism here.

People went to bed almost immediately after sunset. Slept for about 4 hours and then woke up and stayed awake for a couple of hours. What they were doing? Differently. The aristocracy and intelligentsia, who could afford candles, read or prayed. In the 15th century, there were even special prayers for the night vigil. But most often they created, because they felt something akin to insight. Simpler and poorer people, hard workers and peasants, indulged in carnal pleasures. This Ekirch explains the high birth rate in these social groups. After midnight activity, people again went to bed and slept until the first roosters.

Modern experiments have shown that biphasic sleep can actually increase your creativity scores. The fact is that people wake up immediately after REM sleep, when the electrical activity of the brain is similar to the state of wakefulness. The memory is cleared of unnecessary information, the mind is bright, the attention is clear, you are full of creative energy.

Biphasic sleep has been practiced by some tribes since ancient times and is becoming more and more popular in pop culture. Despite the fact that the adherents of this system cannot be attributed either to larks (they go to bed early and get up early), or to owls (they work at night).

This is another argument in favor of the claim that we can change our own chronotype. If desired, an owl can become a lark, and vice versa.

Get up at 6 am! Sounds like a judgment. Can you imagine how difficult it will be to take your head off the pillow and how bad it will be during the day? But this will happen only if the duration of sleep is disturbed. Waking up early doesn't mean sleeping less. Waking up early means sticking to a routine. For example, if the rise is scheduled for 7:00, then you need to go to bed no later than 22:00.

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Why do you want to get up early? Find your motivation. The word "should" doesn't work. Just by forcing yourself, you will inevitably break the regime. Perhaps you dream of losing weight and improving your health? Start jogging in the morning or sign up for a pool. Many of them open early so people can swim before work. Not enough time for self-development? Early morning is perfect for this. Everyone is still sleeping, no one will stop you from writing a note on your blog, reading your favorite book, drawing or, say, lying in the bath for a longer time.

• 1st minute: open your eyes, think about the people you love, smile.

• 2nd minute: take a few deep breaths to oxygenate the body, stretch sweetly.

• 3rd minute: lightly massage the back of the head, temples, eyebrows and earlobes, rub palms together to improve blood circulation.

• 4th minute: Sit down slowly and drink a glass of water stored in the evening - this will restore the body's water balance and activate the metabolism.

• 5th minute: get out of bed, open the curtains, fill the room with light, say to yourself: “Good morning!”

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Now take a shower, exercise, meditate and have breakfast. In any order. Physical activity and contrast showers will increase adrenaline levels, a nutritious breakfast will finally awaken your metabolism, and meditation will help you tune in to a new day.

A few more life hacks that will help make the morning really good:

1. Fill your morning with bright colors and cheerful smells. For example, eat oatmeal off an orange plate and hang citrus pomanders around the house.
   
2. Take care of everything from the evening. Iron your clothes, assemble your lunch box, make a plan, and so on. Often you do not want to get up, because you know how many boring things are in the morning.
   
3. Do not turn on the radio and TV. News and advertising only spoil the mood. Better get ready for work to your favorite energetic tunes.

Having created the right morning rituals, you will soon feel how getting up with the first rays of the sun sets you in a creative mood, and you will notice that you no longer need an alarm clock.

The first mechanical alarm clock was designed by Levi Hutchins in 1787. He called only once a day - at 4 o'clock in the morning. Modern people hate alarm clocks. These soulless squeakers steal our sleep, so in the hope of extending the sweet moments, we press the "Snooze for 10 minutes" button. In fact, we ourselves make the enemy out of the alarm clock.

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As the morning light fills the room, the body stops producing melatonin and starts producing cortisol. The temperature rises, blood pressure, the level of PER protein in the blood. Your body is preparing to wake up. Therefore, observing the regimen, you open your eyes just a few moments before the alarm signal.

The Snooze button breaks this process. You begin to doze off again, falling into the first stage of non-REM sleep. The body is perplexed: melatonin is needed again, but what to do with cortisol ?! As a result, after 5–10 minutes you force yourself to get up, but you feel lethargic and overwhelmed.

“Nonsense! I never wake up before the alarm, you won’t wake me up with a gun!” If so, then you simply do not sleep enough and do not follow the regime.

To make friends with the alarm:

• do not use the Snooze button;

• set a pleasant melody, the volume of which slowly increases;

• keep the alarm clock away to turn it off after the first 5 minutes of waking up, when you have already got out of bed.
  

Insomnia (insomnia) is a sleep disorder characterized by inadequate sleep duration and/or poor quality of sleep. It occurs in people of all ages. Insomnia can be chronic (lasts from a month or more) and acute (several nights in a row).

Symptoms:

1. You can't sleep at all.
   
2. Constantly waking up.
   
3. You are pissed that you are not sleeping well.
   
4. Everything falls out of hand, I don't want to communicate with anyone.

Possible causes:

1. Stress, problems at work and in private life, depression.
   
2. Non-compliance with the regime. Deciding to lie around longer on the weekend, you can earn insomnia.
   
3. Shift work schedule, and as a result - disruption of circadian rhythms.
   
4. Medicines. Investigate if insomnia is a side effect of the drug you are taking.
   
5. Violation of sleep hygiene (stale air in the room, too hot, noisy or light).

In addition, insomnia can be a companion of somatic and neurological diseases. Here you need to see a doctor. But in most cases, you can get rid of insomnia on your own.

Most often, our own thoughts prevent us from falling asleep. Not always pleasant.

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There are various techniques to stop the round dance in the head. For example, visualization. Imagine yourself dozing on the beach under the lapping of the waves. The more detailed the picture, the faster you will find yourself in the realm of Morpheus. Another technique is auto-training: “My eyelids are getting heavy, I fall asleep…”. You can also run the events of the outgoing day in reverse order or dream up and tell yourself a bedtime story.

Also try focusing on your own breathing: inhale deeply through your nose for 4 seconds, hold your breath for 7 seconds, and exhale slowly through your mouth for 8 seconds. Thanks to this exercise, you will calm down, and while counting seconds, you will have no time to think about anything else.

Thank you for the passing day. Who or what are you grateful for today? From a positive psychology point of view, expressing gratitude strengthens interpersonal relationships and is highly motivating. Falling asleep with good thoughts, you set yourself up to continue the chain of goodness tomorrow.

Sometimes we can't fall asleep because of some trifle like an uncomfortable posture or a chemical smell from bed linen. But in the science of sleep, there are no trifles. Pay attention to the position of the body in which you usually wake up. Lie down like this the next time you can't sleep. Use special candles or an essential oil lamp to fill your bedroom with the soothing scent of lavender.

But the most important thing is to work out and follow the evening rituals that set the body to sleep.

1. Keep a diary. There you can write down the events of the passing day, your thoughts and experiences. Give preference to a pen and paper notebook.
   
2. Read. Better - an ordinary book or an e-book with an E-Ink screen. And no horror, action and drama. Choose light, positive pieces.
   
3. Planning. By making a plan in the evening, you will not only save time in the morning, but will also be ready for action.
   
4. Communication. Evening is a time for family and friends. Do not engage in intellectual work at night looking. And communication is not social networks and chats, but a live conversation.

In addition, proper nutrition, meditation and walking will help normalize sleep.

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Many people think you have to be tired to sleep well. Physical activity really has a positive effect on the quality and duration of sleep. But intense training is recommended to end at least 4-6 hours before bedtime.

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Light aerobic exercise, yoga or just meditation can be done 1-2 hours before bed.

One of the best yoga postures for relaxation is shavasana. Lie on your back. Place your hands along the body with palms up, but do not touch the body. Stretch your legs and spread them a little. Close your eyes. Relax one by one all the muscles of the body, starting with the toes. Gradually move up: buttocks, lower back, abdomen, back, chest, and so on. Finish relaxing with the muscles of the neck, face and eyes. Usually by this point the person is disconnected.

But the best option for evening physical activity is a walk. You will enrich the body with oxygen, literally step over the worries and anxieties of the day and, perhaps, work up an appetite.

Eating at night is harmful. But going to bed when your stomach is growling with hunger is wrong. The last meal should be 2-3 hours before bedtime. At the same time, you need to eat foods that are conducive to relaxation.

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Specifically, rich foods:

• melatonin - sleep hormone;

• tryptophan, an amino acid from which melatonin can be synthesized;

• calcium, which promotes the absorption of tryptophan;

• magnesium - a natural muscle relaxant that helps to relax;

• protein that lowers the acidity of the stomach, causing drowsiness.
  

1. Cherry juice or fresh cherries. This berry contains a lot of melatonin, and contains the hormone itself, and not its predecessor. Regular consumption of cherry juice significantly increases the duration of sleep.
   
2. Bananas. They are rich in magnesium and also contain tryptophan.
   
3. Yoghurt or low-fat cottage cheese. Dairy products are high in calcium and protein.
   
4. Turkey, legumes, eggs. These are low calorie, nutritious foods that help lower stomach pH and induce sleepiness through tryptophan.
   
5. Spinach and other dark greens, pumpkin seeds, almonds. Rich in magnesium to help relax muscles and help you fall asleep.

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Do not consume fatty foods, coffee and caffeinated foods, and alcohol before bed. The first can cause indigestion and adversely affect the figure. Coffee, black tea, energy drinks and other caffeinated products will keep you awake for a long time. They should be discarded at least 3 hours before bedtime. The last cup of espresso must be drunk no later than 14:00. At night, it is better to drink herbal teas with chamomile, oregano, lemon balm or hawthorn. They will help you calm down and relax.

Alcohol is especially insidious. It helps to switch off, but it has a bad effect on the REM phase, and due to dehydration and the breakdown of ethanol, we wake up without having time to rest. So a jar of beer or a glass of wine before bed is not the best sleeping pill.

It is better to drink a mug of warm milk with honey. Milk contains tryptophan, protein and calcium. This drink has a warming and lulling effect. Just like in childhood.

Sometimes the cause of insomnia lies not in us, but in our partner, who lies next to us and snores. Do not rush to hit him with a pillow - help him solve this problem. Snoring is the process of breathing during sleep, in which a person makes a characteristic rattling sound. According to statistics, 45% of adults snore in their sleep at varying intervals.